In mid-August, the Twins were 70-53 and gamely battling for an AL Central title with a wild-card spot seemingly an assured fallback plan. Less than two months later, they were sitting at home while three other division rivals battled in the playoffs after a stunning 12-27 collapse to end the year. And they were put into further upheaval when it was announced that the Pohlad family, which has owned the Twins for 40 years, was putting the franchise up for sale.

Before the Vikings stunned us this season, the Lynx did it first. They finished 30-10 in the regular season, winning almost twice as many games as was predicted. Then they proved they weren’t just a cute little story by riding their regular-season formula of defense and a superb cast of characters around superstar Napheesa Collier to the brink of a title. If not for some controversial officiating at the end of Game 5 of the WNBA finals, the Lynx would have won their fifth title. Even so, it was a magnificent season.

Continuing the season of surprises theme, the Timberwolves entered the 2023-24 season with limited expectations. They won only 42 games the previous year and were quickly dispatched in the postseason. But their group gained continuity and confidence on the way to a 56-26 regular season. From there, they crushed the Suns and then outlasted the Nuggets in seven thrilling games before running out of steam against the Mavericks in a five-game conference finals series. Still, it was only the second time the franchise had made it that far.

I kept waiting to write this one to see where it would fall on the spectrum of the year. While there is still one huge regular-season game left (technically in 2025), the Vikings’ 14-2 record so far has been nothing short of stunning. In a span of less than two months this offseason, the Vikings said goodbye to their QB of the past, signed what seemed to be their temporary QB of the present and drafted their QB of the future. Letting Kirk Cousins explore free agency and sign with the Falcons led the Vikings to Sam Darnold and J.J. McCarthy, a disruption that carried some risk but which has given the Vikings a huge reward. With the aforementioned Darnold playing like an MVP candidate (while Cousins is benched in Atlanta) and every other offseason acquisition paying dividends, the Vikings are in position to win the rugged NFC North and claim home field advantage in the playoffs. For a team that seemed like a fringe wild-card contender, at best, even if everything went their way … phew, what other evidence do you need that this has been an extraordinary year in Minnesota sports?